The present invention relates to a monitoring system for boats, comprising a central unit installed on the boat which is equipped to send wireless information concerning events and conditions on the boat and/or components arranged on the boat and to receive wireless instructions to control the components arranged on the boat; and a portable manoeuvre unit which is equipped to send wireless instructions to the central unit installed on the boat.
When boats lie moored they are often left without supervision. It is therefore of interest that they can be monitored. According to current technology this can be done with a burglar alarm, which gives a warning signal if a break in or an attempted break in happens on the boat. Such an existing burglar alarm is activated and deactivated with a portable, hand held manoeuvre unit which sends instructions by radio to the central unit arranged on the boat.
It is also of interest to monitor other events and conditions on the boat or the components arranged on the boat. These events and conditions can be ingress of water into the boat, fire on the boat, battery voltage etc.
The events which occur and the conditions on the boat which are changed must often be attended to promptly, and for this reason it is important that the owner of the boat or other person responsible for the boat is informed as soon as possible.
If the owner of the boat or other person responsible for the boat is at some distance from the boat it is desirable that the events and conditions can be promptly attended to at a distance from the boat.
Monitoring systems for boats available on the market do not satisfy the need which currently exists of obtaining an overall monitoring of the boat.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a monitoring system for boats which gives information by radio concerning the events and conditions on the boat and which monitoring system permits the events on the boat to be acted on wireless.
Another objective is to provide a monitoring system for boats where the events and conditions on the boat can be acted on by a person who is located some distance from a steering area on the boat.
A further objective is to provide a monitoring system for boats which permits control of the boat or components arranged on the boat.
A further objective is to provide a monitoring system for boats which permits increased safety for users of the boat.
This is achieved by means of a monitoring system of the type presented in the introduction where the portable manoeuvre unit is equipped to receive wireless information from the central unit.
Such a monitoring system allows increased flexibility for the users of the boat. By sending instructions and receiving wireless information, the users of the boat are not restricted to be in the vicinity of the boat, or be located on board, in order to receive information about events and conditions on the boat.
By means of a preferred embodiment, a number of functions can be acted on or controlled with the portable manoeuvre unit. In addition to controlling a burglar alarm arranged on the boat, the portable manoeuvre unit can be used, for example, to start and warm up the boat""s engine. It is also possible to manoeuvre the boat via the portable manoeuvre unit. This means that the user does not need to be positioned at the steering area of the boat to manoeuvre the boat.
The monitoring system can advantageously operate in conjunction with a digital serial busbar arranged on the boat to form a network with the other components on the boat, such as a CAN-network (CAN-Controller Area Network). By coupling the monitoring system to the CAN-network, virtually all electrical installations on the boat can be reached. By providing the boat""s diesel engine with a control system of the EDC type (EDC-Electronic Diesel Control) and connecting this control system to the CAN-network, the engine can also be controlled by the monitoring system via the CAN-network. If the monitoring system is in contact with the EDC-system, a stalt-lock can be activated. When the start-lock is activated, the engine can not be started.